Call it an olive branch? New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin gave all of her opponents in the speaker’s race committee chair positions.
Crystal Hudson, widely seen as Menin’s biggest competition in the speaker’s race, will chair the General Welfare Committee, which oversees the city’s homeless shelter system and other social services. Amanda Farías will chair the Women and Gender Equity Committee. Chris Marte will chair the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, Resiliency and Dispositions. And Selvena Brooks-Powers will lead the Criminal Justice Committee. (Carmen De La Rosa, who dropped out of the speaker race to back Hudson, is chair of the Technology Committee.)
Of course these aren’t necessarily their first choices. Farías, for example, was the council’s majority leader under Speaker Adrienne Adams – a role now occupied by one of Menin’s close allies, Shaun Abreu. Brooks-Powers chaired the powerful Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. That too will now be led by Abreu. Though others like Chris Marte, who didn’t chair a committee under Adams, wound up better off. There are 40 committees and subcommittees in total, meaning 11 council members didn’t make the cut.
Other Menin allies were appointed to chair prominent committees: Oswald Feliz got Public Safety, and Shekar Krishan got Oversight. Eric Dinowitz, another early backer for the speaker, was tapped to lead the Education Committee. He replaces Rita Joseph, a former public school teacher, who was not part of the initial slate of council members who supported Menin in late November. Despite an effort from advocates and parents advocating for Joseph to stay on, she’ll lead the Higher Education Committee instead.
Doling out committee chair assignments and leadership positions is a delicate dance for a new speaker. Allies expect to be rewarded, others who made concessions expect to be compensated for their sacrifices. Deals were brokered, sometimes weeks or even months in advance. Appointee demographics will be closely watched – did one borough get more representation than another? In a council composed of majority women, majority people of color, do top appointments truly reflect that diversity? Who makes sense where? And of course there’s the matter of determining the fate of opponents – both the defeated candidates in the speaker’s race and the members that supported them. Punish too harshly, risk looking petty. Give too much grace, risk upsetting longtime supporters.
Earlier, Menin told City & State that conversations with members about their assignments stretched late into Wednesday night, the widespread Verizon outage complicating things.
Seven of the 11 newcomers to the City Council ended up getting a chair assignment despite their freshman status – a notable majority. Bronx Council Member Justin Sanchez got Sanitation and former Assembly Member Harvey Epstein got Consumer Affairs and Worker Protection. Ty Hankerson will lead Parks and Recreation and Elsie Encarnacion got Immigration. Virginia Maloney will lead Economic Development. Republican Frank Morano will lead Veterans and Shanel Thomas-Henry will lead Small Business. Lastly, veteran union leader Shirley Aldebol will lead the Civil Service and Labor Committee. “We have an amazing new class that is coming into the City Council,” Menin said. “We wanted to have a mix.”
Council Member Sandra Ung will once again lead the Ethics Committee, which often handles politically explosive decisions on disciplining fellow members. But in this session, the committee will be combined with another one, making it the Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics. There are also several new committees: Combat Hate, Disability, Consumer and Worker Protection and Subcommittee on Early Childhood Education.
Here’s a breakdown of all the committee assignments. This list, including committee descriptions, is a lightly edited version of the Committee Report found here.
AGING
Oversight of the Department for the Aging and all federal, state and municipal programs that pertain to senior citizens
Chair Susan Zhuang
Shirley Aldebol
Gale Brewer
Eric Dinowitz
Crystal Hudson
Chris Marte
Darlene Mealy
Subcommittee on Senior Centers and Food Security
Chair Darlene Mealy
Gale Brewer
Harvey Epstein
Jim Gennaro
Shanel Thomas-Henry
CHILDREN AND YOUTH
Oversight of Administration for Children’s Services, Youth Board, Department of Youth and Community Development, Interagency Coordinating Council on Youth and youth programs
Chair Althea Stevens
Simcha Felder
Rita Joseph
Chi Ossé
Nantasha Williams
CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Oversight of Human Rights Commission, Equal Employment Practices Commission and equal employment opportunity
Chair Sandy Nurse
Shaun Abreu
Erik Bottcher
Oswald Feliz
Shahana Hanif
Lynn Schulman
Althea Stevens
CIVIL SERVICE AND LABOR
Oversight of municipal officers and employees, Office of Labor Relations, Office of Collective Bargaining, Office of Labor Services and municipal pension and retirement systems
Chair Shirley Aldebol
Tiffany Cabán
Jim Gennaro
Ty Hankerson
Crystal Hudson
Frank Morano
Mercedes Narcisse
COMBAT HATE
Oversight of the Mayor’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, the Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships and other matters of public interest relating the prevention of hate and bigotry
Chair Yusef Salaam
Shekar Krishnan
Darlene Mealy
Mercedes Narcisse
Pierina Sanchez
Lynn Schulman
Julie Won
CONSUMER AND WORKER PROTECTION
Oversight of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Office of Nightlife
Chair Harvey Epstein
Shirley Aldebol
Joann Ariola
Chris Banks
Gale Brewer
Carmen De La Rosa
Kamillah Hanks
Shekar Krishnan
Chi Ossé
CONTRACTS
Oversight of the Procurement Policy Board, review of city procurement policies and procedures, government contracts, the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services and collection agency contracts
Chair Lincoln Restler
Gale Brewer
Jim Gennaro
Kamillah Hanks
Althea Stevens
Inna Vernikov
Julie Won
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Oversight of the Department of Correction and the Department of Probation
Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers
Gale Brewer
Tiffany Cabán
Oswald Feliz
Frank Morano
Mercedes Narcisse
Yusef Salaam
CULTURAL AFFAIRS AND LIBRARIES
Oversight of the Department of Cultural Affairs, libraries, museums, consular corps, the Mayor’s Office of Special Projects and Community Events and to encourage harmony among the citizens of New York City and promote the image of New York City
Chair Nantasha Williams
Crystal Hudson
Farah Louis
Virginia Maloney
Chi Ossé
Althea Stevens
Sandra Ung
DISABILITIES
Oversight over the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
Chair Shahana Hanif
Tiffany Cabán
Carmen De La Rosa
Rita Joseph
Sandy Nurse
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Oversight over economic development
Chair Virginia Maloney
Alexa Avilés
Chris Banks
Amanda Farías
Jennifer Gutiérrez
Kevin Riley
Shanel Thomas-Henry
EDUCATION
Oversight of the Department of Education, the School Construction Authority and charter schools
Chair Eric Dinowitz
Gale Brewer
Carmen De La Rosa
Amanda Farías
Jennifer Gutiérrez
Shekar Krishnan
Rita Joseph
Linda Lee
Farah Louis
Mercedes Narcisse
Lynn Schulman
Phil Wong
Susan Zhuang
Subcommittee on Early Childhood Education
Chair Jennifer Gutiérrez
Gale Brewer
Rita Joseph
Kayla Santosuosso
Julie Won
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND WATERFRONTS
Oversight of Department of Environmental Protection and Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and Office of Recovery and Resiliency
Chair Jim Gennaro
Harvey Epstein
Kamillah Hanks
Lincoln Restler
Justin Sanchez
FINANCE
Oversight of the executive budget review and budget modification, the Banking Commission, the Comptroller’s Office, the Department of Finance, the Independent Budget Office, the Office of Administrative Tax Appeal and fiscal policy and revenue
Chair Linda Lee
Shaun Abreu
Shirley Aldebol
Alexa Avilés
Selvena Brooks-Powers
Oswald Feliz
Jim Genarro
Crystal Hudson
Virginia Maloney
Chris Marte
Darlene Mealy
Frank Morano
Mercedes Narcisse
Lincoln Restler
Justin Sanchez
Nantasha Williams
Phil Wong
FIRE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Oversight of the Fire Department and the Office of Emergency Management
Chair Joann Ariola
Carmen De La Rosa
Simcha Felder
Ty Hankerson
Virginia Maloney
Vickie Paladino
Pierina Sanchez
Lynn Schulman
Phil Wong
GENERAL WELFARE
Oversight of the Human Resources Administration, the Department of Social Services, Department of Homeless Services and charities
Chair Crystal Hudson
Alexa Avilés
Frank Morano
Mercedes Narcisse
Sandy Nurse
Darlene Mealy
Sandra Ung
GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS, STATE & FEDERAL LEGISLATION
Deals with municipal governmental structure and organization, including oversight of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, community boards, the Tax Commission, the Board of Standards and Appeals, the Campaign Finance Board, the Board of Elections, the Voter Assistance Commission, the Commission on Public Information and Communication, the Department of Records and Information Services, the Financial Information Services Agency and the Law Department, as well as federal legislation, state legislation and home rule requests.
Chair Gale Brewer
Eric Dinowitz
Oswald Feliz
Ty Hankerson
Frank Morano
Althea Stevens
Susan Zhuang
HEALTH
Oversight of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and health-related issues with EMS.
Chair Lynn Schulman
Joann Ariola
Selvena Brooks-Powers
Harvey Epstein
Simcha Felder
Jim Gennaro
Mercedes Narcisse
HIGHER EDUCATION
Oversight of the City University of New York.
Chair Rita Joseph
Joann Ariola
Eric Dinowitz
Harvey Epstein
Farah Louis
Virginia Maloney
Lincoln Restler
HOSPITALS
Deals with public and private hospitals, including oversight of the Health and Hospitals Corporation.
Chair Mercedes Narcisse
Shirley Aldebol
Selvena Brooks-Powers
Elsie Encarnacion
Amanda Farías
Jennifer Gutiérrez
Pierina Sanchez
HOUSING AND BUILDINGS
Oversight of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Department of Buildings and rent regulation.
Chair Pierina Sanchez
Shaun Abreu
Erik Bottcher
Oswald Feliz
Crystal Hudson
Rita Joseph
Virginia Maloney
Kevin Riley
Yusef Salaam
Nantasha Williams
Susan Zhuang
IMMIGRATION
Oversight of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and other matters affecting immigration.
Chair Elsie Encarnacion
Alexa Avilés
Gale Brewer
Kamillah Hanks
Rita Joseph
LAND USE
Oversight of the City Planning Commission, the Department of City Planning, land use issues within the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, land use and landmarks review.
Chair Kevin Riley
Shaun Abreu
Chris Banks
Tiffany Cabán
David Carr
Elsie Encarnacion
Linda Lee
Farah Louis
Chi Ossé
Yusef Salaam
Justin Sanchez
Shanel Thomas-Henry
Susan Zhuang
Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, Resiliency and Dispositions
Chair Chris Marte
Alexa Avilés
Oswald Feliz
Kamillah Hanks
Sandy Nurse
Shanel Thomas-Henry
Chi Ossé
Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises
Chair Farah Louis
David Carr
Elsie Encarnacion
Amanda Farías
Simcha Felder
Yusef Salaam
Justin Sanchez
Lynn Schulman
Shanel Thomas-Henry
MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION
Oversight of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene regarding issues of mental health, developmental disability and addiction services
Chair Tiffany Cabán
Shirley Aldebol
Joann Ariola
Simcha Felder
Ty Hankerson
Linda Lee
Althea Stevens
OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS
To investigate any matters within the jurisdiction of the Council relating to property, affairs, or government of New York City and the Department of Investigation
Chair Shekar Krishnan
David Carr
Linda Lee
Kevin Riley
Nantasha Williams
Sandra Ung
Susan Zhuang
PARKS AND RECREATION
Oversight of the Department of Parks and Recreation
Chair Ty Hankerson
Shekar Krishnan
Linda Lee
Chris Marte
Frank Morano
Mercedes Narcisse
Sandy Nurse
Yusef Salaam
Pierina Sanchez
Kayla Santosuosso
Sandra Ung
PUBLIC HOUSING
Oversight of the New York City Housing Authority.
Chair Chris Banks
Elsie Encarnacion
Chris Marte
Darlene Mealy
Chi Ossé
Lincoln Restler
Julie Won
PUBLIC SAFETY
Oversight of the Police Department, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, as well as dealing with courts, legal services, District Attorneys, and the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.
Chair Oswald Feliz
Joann Ariola
Alexa Avilés
Erik Bottcher
Elsie Encarnacion
Jennifer Gutiérrez
Ty Hankerson
Kamillah Hanks
Sandy Nurse
Justin Sanchez
Phil Wong
RULES, PRIVILEGES, ELECTIONS, STANDARDS AND ETHICS
Deals with Council structure and organization and appointments, as well as oversight of the Conflicts of Interest Board, and Council ethics issues
Chair Sandra Ung
Shaun Abreu
Chris Banks
David Carr
Elsie Encarnacion
Shekar Krishnan
Linda Lee
Kevin Riley
Nantasha Williams
SANITATION AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Oversight of the Department of Sanitation and the Business Integrity Commission
Chair Justin Sanchez
Shahana Hanif
Ty Hankerson
Virginia Maloney
Kayla Santosuosso
Shanel Thomas-Henry
Sandra Ung
Inna Vernikov
Susan Zhuang
SMALL BUSINESS
Oversight of the Department of Small Business Services and matters relating to retail business and emerging industries.
Chair Shanel Thomas-Henry
Selvena Brooks-Powers
Shahana Hanif
Virginia Maloney
Frank Morano
Yusef Salaam
Kayla Santosuosso
TECHNOLOGY
Deals with tech in New York City, including oversight of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (not including land use-related issues), the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment, NYC TV and dissemination of public information through the use of technology.
Chair Carmen De La Rosa
Amanda Farías
Jennifer Gutiérrez
Shahana Hanif
Julie Won
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Deals with mass transportation agencies and facilities, including oversight of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, the Department of Transportation, the New York City Transit Authority, and the Department of Design and Construction and matters related to infrastructure projects within New York City.
Chair Shaun Abreu
Shahana Hanif
Shekar Krishnan
Farah Louis
Chris Marte
Justin Sanchez
Pierina Sanchez
Julie Won
Phil Wong
VETERANS
Oversight of the Department of Veterans’ Services and other veteran related issues.
Chair Frank Morano
Carmen De La Rosa
Jim Gennaro
Vickie Paladino
Phil Wong
WOMEN AND GENDER EQUITY
Deals with issues relating to advancing the economic mobility, social inclusion, leadership and civic participation of women and girls, domestic violence, and oversight of the Office to End Gender-Based Violence and the Commission on Gender Equity.
Chair Amanda Farías
Shirley Aldebol
Jennifer Gutiérrez
Kayla Santosuosso
Lynn Schulman
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Oversight of the New York City Office of Talent and Workforce Development.
Chair Julie Won
Tiffany Cabán
Harvey Epstein
Shahana Hanif
Phil Wong